Increments Of Insanity
by Onedi28
Summary: Sequel to The Terror Of Death! Cubia's demise only lead to more problems, planes fell from the skies, and global power outages occured. But an even more serious event is taking place within the world. Rated M for violence, and cursing.
1. Relief

Well, here it is. So here is the rundown, I don't plan for future chapters to be this short. I really am not sure how long it will take to get each chapter out seeing as I want them to be longer. Anyways, enjoy, and as always constructive criticism is encouraged. Also, the quotes do have relevance to the story in some way..._Also, italics means it is someones thoughts, almost always going to be Ryou's and probably won't be used in the story at all except for the introduction. _Some parts will take place in-game, characters will be referred to by their online names when this happens.

**The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe. **

**-Albert Einstein**

**Increments Of Insanity**

**The First Increment-Relief**

_Cubia is gone, the epitaphs are gone, but something is still wrong. Not everyone has returned to their original form. It seems, the only epitaph users that were restored to their initial forms were the ones near the emergence of Cubia's "Master". Locations are slowly returning to normal, and the main panic has dissipated. Most places have recovered from the catastrophes and power outages but some places haven't improved at all. What is going on...? _

"Ryou!" shouted Kaoru "Wake Up!"

"What...I'm up...just thinking..."

"Go check the forums!" screamed Kaoru "They found a black figure walking around with a scythe!" Ryou shot up out of his bed and ran towards the computer.

* * *

><p>The World didn't recover so well from Cubia's onslaught. There were missing patches of graphics scattered throughout areas and towns. Some servers had been shut down for maintenance. Strings of code were flying down from what looked like luminous fireflies appearing out of the ground. Haseo invited Endrance and Yata before walking through the chaos<p>

Delta: Hidden, Forbidden, Holy Ground

"That's..!" muttered Yata as they walked inside. Skeith stood on the altar. It's eyes opened, and everyone except Haseo was booted out of the area.

"Skeith...?" spoke Haseo. At that precise moment Skeith lunged towards haseo at supersonic speeds, and crashed it's scythe where Haseo stood a second ago. Haseo rushed towards Skeith shooting clips of bullets faster than Skeith could react. It seemed as though Skeith had infinite hp, as every single bullet shot at it had little to no effect at all. Skeith slowly hovered towards Haseo, and grabbed him by the neck. Haseo's vision started to fade, the world becoming black and white. He heard a stabbing noise, and fell to the ground.

* * *

><p>Haseo slowly felt his consciousness return to him, and opened his eyes just as slowly. He was laying down on the ground in the cathedral, Skeith's body lay only a few meters away.<p>

"Well, look who's finally awake" Hearing this, Haseo turned his head slowly towards the opposite direction and was shocked to see the one standing in front of him.

"Cubia? I thought..." whispered Haseo.

"Well, let's just say we share a common enemy. In case you forgot, my "master" betrayed me and caused my death by removing my power. Regardless, I believe "her" brainwashing was removed from your avatar". Skeith's body glowed in bright light and was sucked into Haseo's chest. Cubia also vanished at that moment.

_I guess I better log off for now...before anything more crazy happens._

Ryou took off his FMD leaned over to Kaoru and shouted "Skeith and Cubia are back!"

Theta: Hidden, Forbidden, Hades

* * *

><p>"My lady, the first lock has been destroyed..."<p>

"Very well, proceed with getting rid of the second".

* * *

><p><em>Is this a dream...? I think I remember Kaoru and I going to sleep... Where is this place? It looks like this "castle" is floating above the clouds. <em>Ryou walked into the castle, stopping when he saw what looked like cryogenic freezing chambers. _These are...the lost weapons? What are they doing here..._ The chamber holding Skeith's weapon opened up, and floated into Ryou's hands. Ryou heard footsteps behind him, and as he turned around, he say the second phase: Innis, lunging towards him.

Ryou woke up with a jolt, only to find that most of it was a dream, but on his computer, a message was flashing and said: /Weapon Obtained! Ticking Death!/


	2. Deception

**Hoping to get this out by the new year...anyway, um, this is a very short chapter as this is a busy week.**

**Increments of Insanity**

**The Second Increment-Deception**

_ How did that weapon transfer from my dream to the game...that shouldn't be possible...why is this happening, Cubia...I saw him die, I saw the epitaphs destroyed, so how is this happening? There is no way that could have happened, it was just a dream...well, I guess there isn't much more I can do than check this out myself. _Ryou put on his FMD and began to log in to the world. The scene inside the world was a drastic change from what he remembered. Just like before the strings of data were floating in the air, however, the in game clocks...their hands were moving backwards.

"Huh?" questioned Haseo. The passage of time had been altered, the game was three updates behind what it was the day before, and the newer items and equipment began to vanish into thin air.

"Hehehehe." spoke a voice booming out of thin air, time began to speed up in it's backwards motion, and ripples appeared through the background of the world as if a pebble was dropped into a pool of water.

"Haseo." spoke Pi. "Master Yata wishes to meet with you."

"What is it this time? It better not be one of those 'Last night I had a dream..." meetings, we spent four HOURS listening to him ramble on about a dream!"

"Just come, you are going to have to arrive eventually, plus I am sure you are wondering what is going on." Pi abruptly gated out of the town.

"Hm...you actually came..." spoke Yata.

"Yeah yeah, now, tell me what the hell is going on!" screamed Haseo.

"Did you have that dream as well Haseo? The one where you obtained your lost weapon?"

"How...you had that dream too?"

"Of course, every epitaph user did. Now, look at a clock outside of the world, do you notice anything odd about it?"

"Its...flowing backwards in the real world?"

"And that is where it is troubling, if you walk up to anyone except an epitaph user and ask them if time is flowing backwards, they would think you were insane. In essence, the only ones who time are flowing backwards for are the ones who experienced that dream."

"Master Yata" screamed Pi. "We have located the second epitaph."

"And where is it...?"

"It's...in this room?"

"Ah, it looks like I have been found out, no use hiding I guess..." The serpent on the wall slowly began to morph into a humanoid shape. "I am Innis: The Mirage of Deceit." Innis quickly rushed towards Haseo at lightning fast speed, and red rings appeared around everyone else in the room as they were gated out by the system. "Time to die..."


	3. Ideals

**Ugh, I hope i get this out quickly...Anyway, um, well I feel like crap, which is why this chapter took so long...It is also why it is merely half of what i wanted it to be, I was hoping for 1k words...**

_**I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.**_

**_Albert Einstein_ **

**Increments of Insanity**

**Chapter 3-Ideals**

Ryou struggled in order to escape from Innis' onslaught. /_Why won't you die already!_/ screeched Innis, it's claws rearing back in order to stab Ryou.

"Why aren't you dead? I saw you die!" shouted Ryou.

_/Hahahaha! You really are stupid aren't you! You actually thought I died!/ _Spoke Innis. Skeith shot out of Ryou's body launching both itself and Innis into space. Skeith rushed forward into avatar space, it's armor colliding with that of Innis, creating shock waves across the entire area. Speeding up, it launched a data drain straight at Innis, being deflected by it's shield. Innis rammed into Skeith, launching enormous balls of magic as it sped by.

Both Skeith and Innis stopped moving. Innis' head began to pound, as a slab of avatar space dissipated, revealing the real world. A message shot up in the chat box. _/Three ticks left/_. A crack began to appear in the floor. Skeith rammed into Innis, cracking both of their armor. The crack accelerated in tearing off more of avatar space. _/Two ticks left/_. Skeith continued it's onslaught, annihilating everything in it's path.

"This is taking too long...tell Innis to end this now!"

"My Lady! we have tried, it seems to be disobeying our commands."

"Then force it to obey! Now!"

_/One tick left/. _Avatar space was almost gone, the only part remaining was the floor Skeith and Innis stood on. Then it happened...the final part of avatar space crumbled away, and Skeith and Innis plummeted to the white abyss below.

_/Innis! What have you done!/_

_/My power? I no longer have control of my body?/_

_/What?/ _Skeith rammed into Innis' skull, creating a small crack in it. It then jammed it's claws into the crack, pulling Innis' skull open. _/A key? There's a key inside your head?/._

_/Please, destroy it, I beg of you!/_ Skeith took the key outside of Innis' skull, and launched a data drain straight at the head of the key. At that moment, Innis began to vanish from the area, and Skeith's wounds were healed, all as if the battle with Innis was merely a dream.


	4. Hallucination

**For some reason, I really feel obligated to this two week routine...it really is quite odd...Which is also why chapters are so short, because I am a procrastinator and start the chapters two days before I want to release them, and then get writers block. Halfway through this chapter I realized that I really need to have more Kaoru in this story. And lastly, barely any dialogue in the chapter. Mostly plot foreshadowing.**

**Increments of Insanity**

**The Fourth Increment-Hallucination**

_What the...Was all that really just a dream? _Ryou woke up in his bed shocked to the bone. The crushed fragments of the key resided in his right hand, the hand that Skeith used to data drain it. The key had some sort of ominous presence, as if it was giving off some kind of signal or energy wave. The key began to glow, and the colors surrounding the room began to invert. Ryou stepped out of his room and walked towards the key floating in front of him, keeping a constant distance away from his grasp. The key suddenly inverted its position, now upside down. The ground below Ryou suddenly disappeared and he fell into the abyss below

The room he fell into was shockingly cold, and all that could be seen was black castle walls, floating above an endless sea of clouds. A semicircle of doors materialized in front of him, and so did the newly reformed key from Innis. The door marked with the character "ichi" had been opened, and nothing remained inside of it. The key floated towards the door marked "ni" and unlocked it, shattering in the process. A beam of light shot out from the opened door, and destroyed the second seal on the door marked "Kyu." Once again, the floor below Ryou disappeared, leaving him falling into the void below.

Ryou woke up to a bumpy car ride, a frantic look on Kaoru's face as he drove well above the speed limit. "Kaoru, why the hell am I in a car?"

"Damn it Ryou, stop faking comas! It's not funny!"

"It wasn't a coma, I had another one of those dreams."

"So did every epitaph user, except we all wake up!"

"That still doesn't explain why we are in a car."

"Well you were in a 'coma', the obvious thing to do is go to a hospital!"


	5. Depression

**(25/1/12)Feeling a bit down at the moment, but there isn't anything I can really do about it...Well, I am really not in the mood to write this...(4/2/12) OK let's start this thing! (NOTE: I am thinking about something, I may do quantity of words over duration of upload. These 400 word chapters are odd.)ALSO: No dialogue in this chapter, I really don't know why.**

**Increments of Insanity**

**The Fifth Increment-Depression**

**Haseo walked down the streets of Mac Anu, still trying to piece together the meaning of the dreams. The sky was bleak as it had been ever since Cubia's death, but it seemed that with every death of an epitaph the sky would clear up a bit, only problem is that it seemed like The World was plunged into perpetual night. The various parts of the city were becoming corrupted, leaving only a purple void where they once stood. A blend of red fire began to obscure the purple, multiplying the voids size exponentially. Within the void there was a mirror image of Mac Anu, being crushed by what looked like a giant leaf, the leaves began to multiply as well, and eventually devoured the whole city. The smoke from the ruins of the city began to rise, and they spelled out "Magus". The third phase, Magus, was notorious for copying itself into multiple clones making it impossible to defeat quickly. The only consolation is that after the defeat of Magus, hopefully the fourth phase, Fidchell, would have a revealing prophecy.**

** The purple void broke open a hole in the sky, and through it descended Magus, the third phase. Magus quickly created clones of itself and sent them out to destroy Mac Anu. As Magus reeled back to begin it's onslaught, an orb shaped slot appeared where a human's heart would be.**


	6. Propagation

**Procrastination... Only this time it's not school using up my time, its this damn video game...(THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE STORY). Oh and yes, in onedi-logic, leaves light on fire when shot at. (Don't ask.) Also, as you will see, one of these epitaphs are really stupid in this chapter, I mean REALLY stupid. Also, this chapter was a pain to get out, only reason I was able to is because I actually have no exams this week.**

**Increments of Insanity**

**The Sixth Increment-Propagation**

The orb shaped spot on Magus' chest showed what looked like almost thirty keys floating around in a very small area. Magus lunged towards Haseo and split into three copies, all focusing on one target.

"My lady...it seems we have encountered a problem..."

"That would be...?"

"Innis' key has been destroyed"

"How is that a problem? This is according to the plan!"

"Well...the problem is...that key was not the key made by Magus, it was the real key..."

"What? How many doors were sealed?"

"Only the door of Innis..."

"Keep it that way!"

At that moment, Magus' eyes changed to a bloodlust stare, and began to shoot off leaves from it's body, each leaf splitting into more leaves in an endless cycle. The leaves began to fly off, a key appearing on the stems of all of them. The city was covered in demonic leaves, all being controlled by the central form of Magus. The leaves began to blot out all light, turning the town into a dark abyss. The leaves began to mutate into exact copies of Magus' form. Those Magus copies began to morph together, and formed the fourth form, Fidchell.

"Kaoru! Get online now!" shouted Ryou

"What...is Magus really that hard to kill?"

"Magus and Fidchell are!"

Endrance appeared by the fountain in Mac Anu, and stabbed Fidchell in the back, Fidchell spun the wheel adorning it's stomach and the wheel landed on lightning. Lightning shot down from the heavens faster than anything could react, vaporizing anything it came in contact with. Endrance sliced the part of the wheel that showed lightning and a third of the wheel disappeared from existence as the lightning ceased.

Magus guarded the gunshots echoing out of Haseo's dual guns. Haseo shot at one of Magus' leaves and that leaf set on fire, and quickly disintegrated into ashes. Magus reeled back in pain and launched a swarm of meteors towards Haseo.

Endrance continued to attack Fidchell as it's wheel began to spin once again. The wheel landed on what looked like a tidal wave. A wave appeared from behind Haseo and Endrance and caught the meteors shot from Magus. The meteors went on a reversed path and slammed into Magus, sending it straight into the nearest wall.

Magus seethed with rage and ignored Haseo and Endrance and instead shot towards Fidchell. Fidchell shot a scorching beam of fire and burned Magus to a crisp as Magus cut Fidchell in half. Both of their keys shot into the sky and disappeared. The black fog covering the city began to dissipate and Mac Anu began to revert to normal.

"Couldn't you have handled that on your own?" inquired Kaoru.

"Since when do you not want to be online? It was a pain to get you offline for five minutes, now it's a pain to do the opposite."

"Haven't you ever heard of sleep?"

"You are the one who never slept in the first place! What the hell is going on?"

"Okay, calm down...I haven't been able to get more than an hour of sleep a night due to your 'nightmares'."

"Don't worry, I bet I'm going to have two tonight, happens every time a key is retrieved."

"You do realize that the second semester of classes start in three days right? You really need to get some actual sleep".

"Yeah yeah, nothing I can do about it now that two epitaphs just died."

_I am in this castle again...and these doors are here again, but why? Looks like doors 3 and 4 have been opened, but I still don't get what these are for. It looks like something is in there, I should check it out. This looks like a lost weapon, but what is it doing here? Skeith's was in some sort of vial, but this one is just laying against a dusty wall. It doesn't make any sense. This painting...why is there a painting of Aura here? Why is Aura playing with Cubia? I thought they were enemies...Maybe I can find more of these in another part of the castle, but something about Aura here is bugging me, but what? I guess I will check room four's picture. _

_This picture is even more cryptic...it shows Aura and Cubia sharing the same body? This can't actually be real, Aura and Cubia are nothing alike, and still, I have this feeling that this painting is telling the truth. _Ryou woke up from his bed with a jolt, as he was thinking about the meanings of those paintings, and better yet, a possible cause for the recent events.


	7. Thoughts

**I am cutting this chapter short as I am trying not to mix filler and plot into the same chapter and as I am sick I am really not in the mood to write plot. Caught a cold, fml. Oh and FILLER...Oh and LEMON _Lemon will be italicized_:O And I haven't wrote a lemon in over half a year...Which is why this chapter took so long, because I forgot how I wrote lemons. I actually have a copy open of chapter four of the prequel to this as a reference on how I used to write lemons, as I haven't actually read a lemon either in about 3 months. Also I took a whole month to write 200 words...(I didn't start writing until a month) On a side note, don't you like hate when like people use the word 'like' 12 times in like one sentence? So I now officially have no update schedule whatsoever as It is difficult for me to keep up writing 1000 words in a set amount of time as I am a procrastinator and I am writing this at one in the morning.**

**Increments of Insanity**

**The Seventh Increment-Thoughts**

The real world was how he remembered it, stormy, gloomy, and dark. After the death of Fidchell natural disasters became more common and erratic. The skies were being carved into pieces as thunder tore through them. He walked over to the bathroom and wondered where he left his FMD. _Damn it, it's broken...now what do I do. _

"Kaoru! You know how long my FMD has been broken?"

"Here! A new one! Oh and I sort of of broke yours..."

"What? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you look so cute while you sleep..."

Ryou grabbed his new FMD and began to blush as he ran out of the room. He began to load up his computer as he was picked up out of his seat and tossed on his bed.

"_Kaoru...not now..." Kaoru didn't listen to Ryou's remark and began to kiss him.  
><em>

_They began to completely forget about the world surrounding them. Ryou straddled Kaoru, rubbing themselves against each other as Kaoru began to let out slight moans. Ryou quickly succeeded in removing both of their clothes. As he straddled himself on top of Kaoru's member he let out a quick moan. Kaoru began to thrust into Ryou at a steady pace increasing his speed ever so slightly as time passed. Ryou spun around and began to kiss Kaoru while bouncing on his length. _

"_K-Kaoru...I can't hold it in any longer..."_

"_Go ahead, there is nothing stopping you." Ryou quickly came simultaneously with Kaoru as his body became flooded with their fluids. Ryou rested his head in Kaoru's arms as they fell asleep._


	8. Machination

`;..;` Did I ever mention that I hate Saku? She was annoying enough, but then they made her a main character...And so I decided not to include her in this chapter. Also, Yay for procrastination! I blame it on exams...and skyrim...but mostly exams. Next chapter will be longer, plot stuff.

**Increments of Insanity**

**The Eighth Increment - Machination**

Endrance walked through the streets of Lumina Cross. It seemed that not as many people paid attention to him, but that was okay, all that mattered was that Haseo did. In fact, it was actually quite nice not being pelted by random people. Everything was fine in the world, and then he collapsed.

When he woke up, it was as if a mirror was above Lumina Cross, reflecting a reverse image of the city, showing the exact movements of every entity within it. On both sides of the mirror, a light shot out of the ground, creating a crack, through which Gorre, the fifth phase, appeared. Gorre appeared as half of what looked like a shell, and on the other side of the mirror, the other half appeared, however the pattern on the back of the other half was different. Endrance quickly ran as the Gorre on his side of the mirror launched a fireball, while the Gorre on the other side launched a sphere of pure electricity. Endrance just barely dodged the fireball as the ball of lightning shot up from the ground and struck him.

_What? How...the mirror...is that the fireball...? _The fireball emerged on the other side of the mirror and struck that half of Gorre. Gorre shrieked in pain as the marks on its back began to rust, turning from bright yellow to azure. Gorre then shot a torrential ball of water straight towards the mirror, shattering it. As Gorre descended on the battlefield, the other Endrance morphed into what looked like Haseo.

"You know, I was trying to sleep..." I was hoping to pass on fighting this one as well, was afraid that Saku spoke up, but since i'm here..." Haseo pulled out his dual guns and pointed them directly at Gorre. "Maybe when he dies I can go back to sleep..."

"Just wake up and fight." Spoke Endrance, obviously aggravated by Haseo's laziness. Endrance lunged toward the newly fused Gorre and struck it straight in the eye. Gorre lurched back in pain and began to charge up a Data Drain of an immense size. Gorre launched the data drain as sparks began to fly out of its body, circulating in to the data drain now flying through the air. The data drain turned pitch black, and began to increase in size. However, the data drain never launched.

_/What are you doing? You are not supposed to use that attack Gorre! Do you have any idea what you have done?/ _ The voice stopped, and Gorre shattered like a piece of glass, leaving a key behind, a key that radiated a very dark aura.


	9. Truth

So...don't worry, my uploads will still be as slow during the summer as I am taking a class or two xD. Lastly, this chapter didn't come out quite as well as I imagined, but I didn't know how to describe some of the images going through my head. After writing this I realized a bit of it is cliche...Anyway, this is set in a technologically advanced world, I mean sci-fi advanced.

Increments of Insanity

The Ninth Increment-Truth

_Not another one of these dreams again...well at least I know what I have to do..._Ryou walked up to the second largest door in the room, the door engraved with the numeral V. The door radiated just as dark of an aura as the key that he held in his hand. Ryou carefully placed the key in the door, and stood still as the door slowly opened.

The inside of the room was pitch black, except for an eerie glow, which seemed extremely distant. There were some barely visible inscriptions on the walls, but they seemed to be written in bizarre symbols. _What...why can I read this? I have never seen symbols like these before..._

'Corbenik is the key to her life'

'The keys are held by her servants'

'Destroy her, lest our goddess be devoured'

'Aura is the key to her survival, and her death'

'She must be stopped before Corbenik is awakened'

'Seek guidance from her betrayers, The Prophet, and The Temptress'

'Free them from her control'

_What...I thought I was done with this cryptic crap._ The two last lines had rusted away and became unreadable, but one was oddly glowing orange. Ryou reached over to it, and the rust faded.

'The Prophet has been freed, The Temptress awaits, only _she_ knows the location of The Temptress, the one who had fallen from grace. Her throne awaits ahead, confront her, it is your only hope'

_...I would rather have Cubia running around than have to deal with this shit...and why are there writings like these in such a technologically advanced room?_ _I guess I should go to that room; there is nothing else here..._

_*Pulse*_

_What the..._

_*Pulse*_

_It feels as if my mind is drifting away from my body..._

_*Pulse*_

"So, it appears you have arrived, I suppose an introduction is in order. My name is Morganna, Queen of this world, and you are just a pawn in my game." A huge ghost like woman appeared in the darkness in front of him, she appeared much like someone he had once seen, except for her strange, wide evil grin. Behind her stood a huge red throne.

"Who the hell do you think you are? And why do you look so much like Aura?" Ryou shouted angrily at Morganna.

"All will be explained in due time...I suppose you are looking for Macha, she is in the next room, have fun..." Morganna vanished from the room and the door behind her throne creaked open.

Ryou stepped cautiously inside the huge chamber that had opened up, only to find a very startling sight.

"Ryou...my master has been waiting for you..." It was Macha and she was shacked to the wall by chains, blood dripping all over the floor.

"What are you talking about? I just spoke to Kaoru earlier." Ryou replied after recovering from the minor shock.

"So you really don't know... I guess I owe you an explanation. You see, the past year of your life, has been merely a game for her."

"What do you mean..." Ryou asked unsure.

"You have been in a coma for over a year. The past year that you have experienced was merely replicated from your memory. Kaoru has visited you every day; he sent me and Fidchell into this world, in hopes of awakening you." Macha explained and Ryou stood rooted to his place, no word left his lips as the words slowly sank into his mind.

"You are kidding right? Is all this true? What role does Morganna have in this?" he asked with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Morganna is responsible for your coma, this is all a game to her, her goal is to put the entire world in a coma, and repopulate it with AIDA." The room that they were in began to shake, the ceiling began to crack, and rocks from the ground began to rise up in the sky. "Now quick, before you die in this world, wake up!" Macha lunged forward and stabbed Ryou. "My master...is waiting for you..." She said and her voice echoed in Ryou's head until it faded away.

* * *

><p>"He is awake. He must get out of here before she comes."<p>

"Understood, I will call Ichinose."

* * *

><p>"Oh, I see that you are awake, Ryou." Spoke Kaoru in a slightly seductive tone.<p>

"I know, and was I really asleep for a year?" Ryou asked, still doubting Macha's words.

"How did you know that...?"

"Macha told me."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense...regardless, it is true that you have been asleep for a year. Oh and I forgot to mention, flying cars became abundant in the past year."

"I see… tell me something that I don't already know..." Ryou began to shake, what almost looked like a screen materialized in the air. On the screen was an image of Morganna, with words reading 'You didn't think you got rid of me did you?'


	10. Prelude

The name of this chapter is using the musical definition. Anyway, this chapter is almost entirely filler, also some back-story which may clear up a few things from the previous chapter. Also, very spaced out writing here due to real life complications and I have no idea when this will be released. Anyway I am going to estimate 3-6 chapters left in this story, I may be wrong, who knows.

Increments of Insanity

* * *

><p>The Tenth Increment-Prelude<p>

Ryou was shaking, the image of Morganna faded as his eyes closed, images of Cubia's assault began to flood his mind, but he was quickly returned to normal as he remembered Cubia's sacrifice in order to save him. Ryou walked over to Kaoru who was currently taking his FMD out of his drawer.

"So, The World exists here too?" Spoke Ryou who was not surprised in the slightest.

"Yes, your dream world was based off of the real world, unfortunately your memory has been wiped...which is odd because you act the exact same way..."

"I see...Kaoru, can you tell me what happened when I was asleep?" Ryou asked curiously.

"Well, nothing really." Kaoru replied simply and Ryou stared at him for a moment.

"Nothing at all?" He asked again.

"Regardless, Ryou, do you have any more questions that you want to ask me?" Kaoru asked, pushing Ryou's first question aside.

"Yes...our interactions in my dream, were they real?" Ryou asked in a low voice, not sure what to expect.

"Everything between us in your dream took place in reality as well; I am the exact same Kaoru from your dream. Once again, I mean everything; every little detail took place in reality." Kaoru answered with a soft smile.

Ryou walked out onto the balcony and leaned over the streets below, tears dripping down his eyes as he no longer knew what the line between reality and his imagination was. Everything was just so complicated, nothing made sense to him anymore. Deciding that thinking about it won't bring him anything but headaches, he went to sleep.

_Not one of those dreams again...and this same room...I guess it is time to open the sixth door._ He moved forwards and opened the large metal door. The door opened with a loud, eerie creak. Ryou went inside the dark room. _There's nothing in here? _He walked deeper inside. _Hm? A book? _The book seemed old and dusty, he picked it up and brushed the dust away._ This book belonged to Cubia?_ Ryou attempted to open the book but he was instantly shrouded in pure light and the room around him dissipated.

Ryou woke up the next morning in bed with Kaoru, the sound of thunder reverberating throughout the room, and light constantly flickering in as a result of the lightning. Rain was pounding down on the ground as gusts of wind caused little blades of grass to become uprooted, and fly into the distance.

"Hello Ryou..." Ryou jolted up as he heard Kaoru's voice, Kaoru was lying right next to him. "Is something...bothering you?" He asked concerned.

"No, everything is fine." Ryou sighed as he looked out the nearby window into the chaos that is the world he lived in. The sky showed hints of blood red bleeding through the clouds, as if it was engulfing the everyday blue sky. Lightning could be seen flickering in the distance, consuming everything it came in contact with.

"Are you sure everything is fine?" Ryou's heart skipped a beat as he noticed Kaoru leaning over him. "You don't look as if everything is fine..."

"Kaoru, it's nothing, if it was something bad, I would tell you." Ryou sighed as he realized the reason he wouldn't tell Kaoru about his thoughts is that he didn't want him to worry. In his current mood, the last thing he wanted was to have Kaoru upset as well. _Why did all of this have to happen so quickly...I was enjoying my "life"...at least Kaoru seems the same, he still worries about me just as much, if not more. I guess I just have to get used to this..._


	11. Serenade

I am now estimating Two-Three chapters left after this...Procrastination ;D ...So updates won't speed up during the summer as I am taking two classes, and it is about 9 hours of work on weekdays and at least one test every other monday so weekends are reserved for studying, I will try not to slow down too much but no guarantees. Anyway at the end of this story I am going to leave room open in case I do decide to do a sequel, but that is highly unlikely, unless people want it that is.

Increments of Insanity

The Tenth Increment-Serenade

Ryou woke up the next morning, rain continued to pour as thunder reverberated throughout the area, his eyes briefly blinded by streaks of lightning. The wind was blowing leaves in a constant horizontal direction, nearly uprooting trees and power lines. The sky was covered in a perpetual blanket of clouds, shrouding sunlight from reaching the surface. "Kaoru, is it always stormy like this?" Kaoru turned over and stood straight at Ryou.

"Ever since Morganna took power, the sun hasn't once been visible...this was such a beautiful world...she is turning it into a desolate wasteland..." Kaoru spoke softly, showing hints of sadness in his words. "The plants used to be so lustrous in the breeze...now the breeze is ripping them out of the ground...Anyway, Ryou, you must stop her." Kaoru quickly changed his tone to a commanding one, and spoke loudly towards Ryou.

Ryou's face didn't show any emotion, he turned to the side and his eyes furrowed. He knew how dangerous the situation was, and he knew he was the only one who could make a change about this storm-stricken world. The burden was big, huge actually. And he knew he was the only one who could enter those dreams and actually interact with the things inside the doors. He closed his eyes again, drifting off…

_...I have been listening to you...My name is Tarvos, The avenger... _Ryou woke up to Tarvos' voice in that place again, and inside the room in front of him was Tarvos, large and powerful.

_I have decided to aid you, why you ask? It is simple, I wish to avenge the other phases which have been sacrificed by Morganna, nothing more... _He said and suddenly vanished, leaving the door of his room open for Ryou_. __I am sure you know what lies ahead..._his voice resounded in the area before Ryou jolted up awake_._ He walked up towards the window, watching the ever lasting storm as it uprooted a patch of grass…it was getting worse by the day.

Ryou breathed in sharply as he realized the final confrontation with Morganna was not too far away, the only obstacle that stood in his way was Corbenik. The keys which caused so much trouble in the past are nothing more than illusions in this world, everything he had fought for has accomplished nothing at all. He felt a twinge of defeat as he thought those words out, he sighed and shook his head, he shouldn't think of it that way. At that moment, he suddenly collapsed, falling into a lucid nightmare...

Ryou found himself standing in what seemed to be a hellish land, demons flew freely in the sky, the moon was stained red with blood, and the sun was nowhere in remote sight. He walked into what looked like a destroyed monastery, the ruins made it impossible to identify what the structure really was. Ryou walked up to the tablet in the center and read it. _Hero destined to defeat the corrupt queen...Know that she was not always evil, and at one point had the best for this world in mind. She was corrupted by The Rebirth, Corbenik, who she now uses as her vessel. Vanquish Corbenik, and you shall vanquish her too._

At that very moment he jolted up with Kaoru hovering over him, as it seems he was still on the floor. He looked out the window and was surprised to see red clouds between the dark grey ones. If he doesn't go up against Corbenik soon, this world would soon turn into the one he was just in. He had to hurry now.


	12. Radiance

Here it is, the last chapter... I will save my thank yous and everything until then...Enjoy!

Increments of Insanity

The Final Increment-Radiance

The sky had become almost entirely red; the storm had killed almost every plant.All was set for the Rebirth to arrive, arrive to a world that is so beyond repair that rebirth is the only option left. Ryou sighed as he realized the world would never be the same, even if he and Kaoru managed to defeat Corbenik, there was no way the damage caused would be reversed, they just had to find a way to move on.

"Ryou...worrying about the future will get you nowhere. You have to focus on the present; if you don't, you will not have a future to be worried about." Kaoru spoke in a slightly concerned tone. Ryou sighed and walked out the door, knowing what awaited him. His sword had become dull, so he had to use his scythe, which breaks quite easily, making him hope that Corbenik doesn't have powerful armor. Kaoru walked out after Ryou and stood next to him. He brushed the hair out of Ryou's eyes, causing the younger to look at him. He used this chance to kiss him, knowing that this could possibly be the last time they are together, if things went wrong.

The Sun was covered by the moon, an eternal solar eclipse, shrouding the entire world in perpetual darkness. What looked like an eye was forming on the moon, becoming ever more visible to the naked eye. However, it wasn't just any eye; it was Morganna's eye, the imperial symbol of the 'queen' herself. Dark streams of energy radiated from the eye, spreading out in every direction. What looked like a bean started to descend from the eye, as it began to morph into an eye itself.

"Tch, I was hoping it would just be a bean." Kaoru spoke in a slightly nervous tone. Ryou scoffed at his lover's comment and raised his scythe, completely ready for what's coming next.

Ryou ran up to where the eye had descended and slashed at it, hoping that it would fall easily, it did. Light began to fade from the eye, and the sky began to clear up. It all happened in just mere seconds. this couldn't be right. _/You didn't think it was that easy did you?/ _Morganna's voice rang around in the air. Ryou growled to himself, clutching the scythe's handle in his hand. _/You see I got caught up in traffic and-/_

"Cut the crap Morganna!" Ryou shouted, not even trying to hide his annoyance. He's been toyed with long enough, he wasn't going to stand there and listen to some queen from another world give him excuses! Ryou grunted as he ran up and slashed repeatedly at the cloud from which Morganna's voice was reverberating. The cloud began to dissipate as violent streaks of lightning shook the area, the bean on the ground began to morph into what looked like an eye, dark clouds began to materialize around the eye, the sky began to turn violet, and bright light began to emanate from the ground, as if it was disappearing from the world. The light was radiant, shining even through the cloudy violet sky. The light began to surround Morganna, slowly taking away her power until she became removed from her vessel. She fell, her life finally ended, Ryou felt his thoughts stop as he suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Ryou awoke to find himself in what looked like a tunnel filled with light. A voice emanated from the walls, the voice was pure, it sounded like the voice of a young girl.

/_I will grant you one wish.../_

Ryou's eyes shot open as he realized what he was just told, he had the opportunity to change whatever he wanted, the only question was, what should he pick? "I wish for..."


	13. Incandescence

So, after like 4 months, here it is. Sorry for the long wait, been a bit busy with school and the like. Anyway I think I am going to take a break from writing fics for a while, it just requires time that I barely have nowadays. I hope you have enjoyed _Increments of Insanity, _the epilogue begins now...Special thanks to Thunder Of Friendship for beta reading.

Increments of Insanity

Epilogue- Incandescence

As Corbenik sunk to the ground, the purple clouds began to subside. The luminous sun breaking through the barrier, the storms began to dissipate, and Morganna was no was a pause, a moment for all the sudden events to sink in. Thick, unbearable silence filled the air.

"Now wasn't that a bit easy?" Spoke Ryou, expecting more from Morganna. If she was able to take over the entire world, shouldn't she be able to put up more of a fight? The idea of being rid of her seemed almost like a dream, a haze of quick movements, a matter of a few minutes, nearly impossible. Ryou stared at the sight in front of him, red eyes failing to conceal shock.

"Nobody ever said she was powerful...just intimidating..." Kaoru walked past Ryou to where Corbenik's corpse laid, Ryou slowly, walked up to Kaoru. The purple clouds were being absorbed by the seed as it began to shrink, eventually evaporating into nothing. The emptiness that was left seemed huge, the gravity of the event was astounding, but joy from their victory soon filled in the emptiness, a smile spreading on both of their lips. Kaoru turned around and kissed Ryou as the townspeople began to gather. It would be a long time before everything would be rebuilt, but together, they could get through it, they managed to defeat all the phases and Morganna after all.

It has been a year since the incident, Kaoru and I are still getting along just fine, the town has finally been rebuilt, and life has finally started to return to normal. We just got electricity back the other day, and they seem to have turned the spot where Morganna fell into a park. It's actually amazing how everyone managed to cope with everything, to undo all the chaos and turn it into a …happy place. Anyway, I trust you are getting along fine as well...Masato...


End file.
